New York Marathon 2020 Officially Canceled due to Pandemic

06/24/2020

Despite the drop in cases in NYC, NYRR organizers and city officials have decided that the risks of running with 50,000 participants were still too high.

The official news has just arrived, the largest Marathon in the world, the New York Marathon 2020 was officially suspended today on Wednesday, June 24th, 2020. The most anticipated autumn event in New York City, among the most prestigious and lucrative of its kind, had to surrender to COVID-19.




City officials and the New York Road Runners, the organizers of the event, decided that planning a race like the Marathon was too risky, bringing people from all over the world together and keeping them in confined places for an extended period of time (i.e the corrals etc.) arranging al the transportations, etc., will remain a danger until a treatment or vaccine for COVID-19 will be made available to the public.




While infection rates in the New York metropolitan area are now among the lowest in the country (YAY!!) the virus is spreading at an increasingly alarming rate in areas that have not followed the advice of public health officials and the CDC -- extended shut-down and quarantine, practicing social distancing, avoiding face-to-face meetings with others, using masks when outside at all times.

The risk of having to spend money to organize the event, which involves thousands of people, businesses, and millions of dollars, and then be potentially forced to suspend it closer to the race was just too high. At the start of the race, the runners are gathered inside a series of starting corrals, located on Staten Island, where keeping the distance is almost impossible, plus, you need to bus over 50,000 runners to the starting point from Hotels all over the city.

Runners who signed up for this year's race can choose to receive a refund or postpone their entry to one of the next three years Marathon. They will also have the opportunity to run virtually this year. Organizers said they would announce the details of the virtual event later in July.

The New York City Marathon was only suspended once, in 2012, following the horrible destruction of Hurricane Sandy. Many were the criticisms precisely because the organization had insisted until two days before the race that the race was still happening only to cancel last minute and thus leaving the runners who had arrived from all over the world, disappointed and angry.


Mayor De Blasio said: "I think it is fair to say that it will take a while before we feel comfortable being outside in large numbers and in being assemblies."
After what we've been through for the past four months, it's the right call.


As always be safe & stay Healthy - New York Strong